Synopsis

Eddie (“Crazy Eddie”) Antar operated a chain of electronics superstores, each stacked to the ceiling with microwave ovens, VCRs, CD players, and personal computers. His radio and television advertisements, which were built around the tag line “Crazy Eddie—his prices are IN-SA-A-A-A-ANE!” made his company one of the best known retailers in the New York metropolitan region. At the outset, Antar skimmed cash receipts from his company, understating its true revenues and reducing its tax liability. Later, he reversed the scheme and began inflating his company’s profits in order to boost its stock price. When the fraud was discovered, Antar fled the United States and eluded capture for two years while using a forged passport and multiple aliases to hide his identify. He was eventually caught, convicted, and sentenced to six years in a federal penitentiary.

Discussion Questions

1. Why did the Antar family initially understate their company’s sales revenue?
2. What methods did Eddie and Sammy Antar use from 1980 forward to overstate Crazy Eddie’s sales revenue?
3. How did Eddie and Sammy Antar conceal the fact that Crazy Eddie’s inventory balance was overstated by $65 million?
4. What led to the discovery of the Crazy Eddie fraud?
5. Why was Sammy Antar, the architect of the Crazy Eddie fraud, never sentenced to prison?

Additional Resources

Crazy Eddie Video. Sammy Antar discusses his role in the Crazy Eddie accounting fraud (12:05 minutes).

MasterMinds: Crazy Eddie. The story of Crazy Eddie from the company’s founding through Eddie Antar’s capture and prosecution (21:23 minutes).